Wandering Gods of Day and Night

If it's as grand a wish as touching the heavens, it might require the approval of all Heavenly Dome-level gods.

"The Heavenly Book needs recognition from God-level entities? That's a tad difficult… But wait, perhaps I can exploit a bug!"

Zhou Xuan suddenly recalled that he currently had two Divine Statuses, one from Peng Hou and the other from Ghost Hand.

The Divine Status from Ghost Hand was now in the possession of the Nuo God… and since it was in the Nuo God's hands, wasn't that the same as being in his own hands?

After all, they were actual relatives—the Zhou Family were all descendants of the Nuo God.

As for Peng Hou's Divine Status, it resided within Zhou Xuan's Secret Realm.

With two Divine Statuses in hand, Zhou Xuan could designate which Tangkou would give rise to a new god, and the god would be selected from the disciple with the highest incense fire level within that Tangkou.

"I have two Divine Statuses and can create two Heavenly Dome-level gods. If I write down a relatively modest wish in the Heavenly Book, then I wouldn't need approvals from other gods… Much easier and quicker."

Zhou Xuan realized that Divine Statuses and the "Will Heavenly Book" were practically made for each other.

"Zhou Xuan, heed my words: to refine the Will Heavenly Book, you'll need a substantial amount of Wish Power. You're a fine storyteller, so gathering Wish Power shouldn't be difficult. But more critically, the Heavenly Book must have a physical entity, and it needs a Daoist's Wash Away Injustice Talisman as material,

The Wish Power is easy enough to collect, but finding a Wash Away Injustice Talisman is far more challenging…"

"Well, isn't that convenient? I actually happen to have a Wash Away Injustice Talisman… even the Green Robed Buddha covets it."

The Wash Away Injustice Talisman in Zhou Xuan's possession came from the only Great Buddha in the Heavenly Dome,

and when Zhou Xuan ventured into the Time-Space World to capture Mo Tingsheng, the Green Robed Buddha even wanted to rely on a Daoist's descent into the human world to seize the talisman.

"How do you have a Wash Away Injustice Talisman?" Mr. Feng shared the secret of the "Will Heavenly Book" with Zhou Xuan, originally assuming that Zhou Xuan might need to spend several years refining the Heavenly Book,

After all, Daoists who walk the human world are exceedingly rare. Even if encountered, they are at least at the level of eight incense flames, and taking one down is no easy feat,

But he never imagined that Zhou Xuan already owned a talisman.

"How should I put it… I owe it all to these industrious little hands of mine, which helped me acquire this talisman."

Zhou Xuan never mentioned that this Wash Away Injustice Talisman was brought back to the Zhou Family's Troupe by the "original Zhou Xuan." As he laid in bed, he casually took possession of the talisman.

"Brilliant, truly brilliant. With the "Will Heavenly Book" in hand, you are undoubtedly a storyteller with nine layers of incense fire refined."

"Senior Brother, regarding the Will Heavenly Book, just how did you comprehend it? I also possess seven incense flames, yet I'm unable to grasp it."

Yuan Buyu was still intrigued and asked.

In Jing Country, comprehension of such secrets typically began at seven incense flames; the higher the flames, the deeper the understanding.

But Yuan Buyu and Mr. Feng both stood at the seven incense-flame level, so why could the Senior Brother understand, while the Junior Brother could not?

"Junior Brother, I briefly touched upon eight incense flames once."

"And when was it that you touched upon the eighth incense flame?" Yuan Buyu inquired.

"It was when the two of us killed our master." Mr. Feng replied nonchalantly.

Zhou Xuan frowned deeply upon hearing this, turning to Yuan Buyu: "You're a master-slaying sort, huh? Bit ruthless, aren't you?"

"It's all a series of mistaken, unforeseen events." Yuan Buyu awkwardly brushed off the matter, not feeling too proud about revisiting his past.

Luckily, Zhou Xuan wasn't an overly inquisitive gossip, and he trusted Yuan Buyu's character deeply—with the belief that if Yuan Buyu had indeed killed their master, then it must've been a master deserving of death.

"Zhou Xuan, I've already told you everything I know. Besides, I understand that you plan to make my corpse a sacrifice, and you likely have questions about the Food Heaven within my body. Once I'm dead, you can take everything—it'll be my way of thanking you for avenging me."

Mr. Feng spoke up, then turned to glare fiercely at Mo Tingsheng.

His words carried a resolved will to die, aiming to subtly urge Zhou Xuan to leave for a while,

But Zhou Xuan caught on to his intent and didn't leave.

"I want to ask you right now." Zhou Xuan directed his question at Mr. Feng: "The godly offspring that last polluted the Mingjiang Ancestor Dragon—'Cannibal'—likely owes its birth to Food Heaven. How exactly was it born?"

"I honestly don't know." Mr. Feng replied, "Many of my memories have been devoured by Food Heaven, including anything regarding how that offspring was conceived."

"Then I have nothing further to ask."

Zhou Xuan glanced once at Yuan Buyu, then turned and left the prison cell.

...

A folded fan slid out from the wide sleeve of Yuan Buyu. His hand gripping the fan trembled, not from fear, but because his grief was overwhelming.

He and Mr. Feng had apprenticed under the same master.

The master solely esteemed Mr. Feng, genuinely passing on the storyteller's craft to him, while holding Yuan Buyu in disregard—even intentionally stalling Yuan Buyu's progress.

Before receiving blessings at their incense ceremony, Mr. Feng and Yuan Buyu had been extremely close friends. Unable to bear the unfairness, Mr. Feng secretly taught Yuan Buyu the craft.

"Senior Brother, back when you returned to the sect from the Corridor River, if only you hadn't gone on to form the Kidnapper Hall, how splendid it would have been."

"With such great vengeance to carry, how could I shirk seeking retribution? Yet I deeply regret these years of believing Mo Tingsheng's lies, mistaking the true enemy."

After Mr. Feng emerged from seclusion and arrived at the Corridor River, he learned of the Feng Family Manor massacre and subsequently encountered Mo Tingsheng.

Mo Tingsheng falsely claimed that his family and clan had also perished in drought.

To gain Mr. Feng's trust, he even displayed his Buddha's image, the "Peace Scale," later claiming that it allowed him to discern the drought to be the sordid dealings of several gods from Mingjiang Prefecture.

Mr. Feng believed him without question, intent on revenge. However, at that time, his thirst for vengeance was not yet too extreme, so he and Yuan Buyu returned to their sect together, requesting that their master, a seven-incense-flame Daoist poised to ascend to eight, contact the Tangkou god Bi Fang to demand accountability from the Mingjiang Prefecture gods.